Method for Verb Conjugations

Language Learning
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This is my first post in the forums. I’ve been following several of the discussions in this particular forum, because I am currently designing an app that will draw heavily on mnemotechnics to help people learn languages. Memorizing vocabulary is one application that seems to be pretty tried and true for mnemotechnics, but I have not seen many systems for grammar or pronunciation. I am hoping to develop a system for learning a language that uses memory techniques to store necessary information until it becomes automatic.
The process, as i see it, will go something like this:
1. Exposure: an introduction to the language and its unique features
2. Storage/encoding: systematic learning and encoding vocabulary and grammar rules.
3. Habit: make the vocabulary and rules automatic through practice.
I’m imagining the memory system being like training wheels: helpful until you don’t need it anymore.
The system will need to be robust enough to accomodate languages with declensions–Czech, Polish, Attic Greek, Latin–but still adaptable to simpler languages like Spanish or Norwegian. I don’t mean to diminish Spanish or Norwegian, they are just less complex than declined languages.

This is a long preamble to a fairly simple mnemonic, but I hope it will be the beginning of the system I described.
So, here is the mnemonic I came up with to remember person and conjugation:

There are 6 conjugations to learn: 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular and plural.
Now, 1st, 2nd and 3rd person indicate distance from the speaker:
1st: no distance. The speaker is doing the action. represented by a point.
2nd: short distance. The speaker is close to the action, but not doing it himself. represented by a short line.
3rd: long distance. The speaker is even more removed from the action. represented by a long line.

Now, make a visual image to correspond to each distance: I use a flea, a midget, and a giant.
Plurals are made by visualizing groups instead of individuals of each.
Masculine/Feminine/Neuter Participial forms can be encoded by a bodybuilder/nun/robot combined with the person image.
If you’re completely lost, I hope the following example will help:

We’ll use the Spanish Verb ‘-ar’ regular endings:
present(encoded by a big gift wrapped with a bow) indicative forms are:
1sg -o “i am speaking” (‘o’ makes me think of orgasm; 1st person is ‘flea’; present is a gift: so the image is a
“flea holding a present while having an orgasm”)
2sg -as “you are speaking” (‘as’ encodes as ‘ass’; 2nd person is ‘midget’;present is a gift: “midget mooning
santa who is holding a present”)
3sg -a “he/she/it is speaking” (a–>‘aah’–>‘spa’; 3rd person–>‘giant’; present–>‘gift’: “green giant relaxing at a
spa with only a present covering his junk”)
1pl -amos “we are speaking” (amos–>‘amish man’; 1st pl–>‘group of fleas’; present–>‘gift’: “amish man
opening gift box full of fleas which jump out and cover him”)
2pl -a ́is “y’all are speaking” (a ́is–>‘ice’; 2nd pl ‘group of midgets’; present–>‘gift’: “group of midgets giving each
other gifts of ice sculptures”)
3pl -an “they are speaking” (an–>‘flan’; 3rd pl ‘group of giants’; present–>‘gift’: " a group of giants fighting each
other for a giftbox full of flan)

Any offensive imagery is meant only to cause a greater emotional response and hence better encoding.

Of course, there is still a lot to be developed. I haven’t addressed usted/ustedes vs. tu/vosotros
This is meant to be a brief intro to the concept.

Anyway, let me know what you think or if you find this helpful.
Thanks,
Jordan

1 Like
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These things are helpfull.

Some mnemoists use words that rhyme (And = Hand) and personally I sometimes use last letters (An = Fan, Ain = Pain)

It’s seems quite good, your system.

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This idea for a language learning app which includes grammar and pronunciation sounds very interesting and could potentially be very popular. I haven’t tried applying memory techniques to learning verb conjugations or noun declensions when learning Latin instead I try to look for patterns within the conjugations/declensions.

It seems to me that you subscribe to the Skill based theory of second language acquisition (I think most people do since it is the dominant theory in language class rooms today). The skill based theory says that learning a language is just like learning any other skill. “It assumes a distinction between declarative knowledge, knowledge that is conscious and consists of facts, and procedural knowledge, knowledge of how an activity is done. Skill acquisition is seen as a progression from declarative to procedural knowledge.”

Until recently, I felt the same way about grammar, that with enough practice eventually it will become automatic. But after reading up on different second language acquisition theories, I’ve found a theory which says this is not the case; no matter how much practice it will never become automatic. To me this rings true because I’ve been taking french for at least five years in school and I still have not gotten to the point where any grammar comes automatically to me (or maybe It’s just me). I still think having a knowledge of a language’s grammar can be very helpful for reading but in my personal experience not for speaking.

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It’s never simply a matter of time passage. You could study a second language for 20 years and never have anything about it become automatic.

It all has to do with how you study, how often, what your study methods are, etc.

You can put in one hour a day for five or ten years and get nowhere.

People will swear that they “study hard”. Well, define “study hard”. Does it involve periodic review? Self-testing? Do you make sure there’s no music playing? Can you concentrate properly? Do you set up a proper study environment? Are you systematic? Do you really make the time every day?

You must be aware that everyone will swear, “Yes, I do all those things!”, because nobody wants to admit, “Well, I suppose I don’t really commit myself to the study. I don’t do it daily. I have music playing. Sometimes I just don’t feel like studying it, so it’s only a few times a week and I don’t have a great urge…” You get the point.

If you find a theory that says no matter how hard or how long you study, it’ll never become automatic, then all you’ve done is given yourself an excuse to fail. If you believe that theory, you’ll never get to the “automatic” phase. There’s nothing that says that the theory must be correct. Why not ignore it? If others have achieved the “automatic” level, then it’s proof it can be done. All you have to do is figure it out how to make it work for you. But be warned: it takes commitment, determination, practice and lots and lots of self-discipline. Don’t think about the result; just do the work and the result will take care of itself. The “automatic” level is reachable, but you just have to do a lot of work to get there. And there aren’t any shortcuts, even with the aid of mnemonics. It takes time and patience.

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Isaac,
The distinction between procedural and declarative memory is at the heart of this idea. It seems to be applied too simply. Either language instruction is rule based–the classical approach–or focused on simulating immersion–the more common approach now. Rosetta stone is a great example of the latter; Although RS is effective and, in my opinion, a good language learning program, it can be frustrating to see a pattern but be unable to understand it. Ultimately, I think this causes a declarative distraction which inhibits the ability to learn rules implicitly. There are distractions which can help with implicit learning, but they cause one to pay more attention to the details of the sentence(for example, counting the words in the sentence or the occurrences of a particular letter). Conceptual distractions take focus away from the elements of the language, which are largely what we are trying to make automatic
As an aside, you might be interested in Kató Lomb. She was fluent in 16 different languages and was one of the first simultaneous interpreters. Her method for learning a language was to read a novel of her own choosing and to learn grammar as a supplemental aid. She has a book called Polyglot: How I learn Languages. She is often associated with the “comprehensible input” mentioned in your second link.

The instructional method I’m working on is based on the assumption that certain things can be addressed declaratively–like grammar rules or verb conjugations–which will aid in procedural learning by preventing conceptual distractors. The verb conjugation mnemonics will be optional i think, since it might be more of a hindrance to some.
Mnemonics seem to have a great potential for linking the declarative and the procedural aspects. mnemotechnics can enhance one’s short term memory greatly so that much more can be processed into long-term declarative and procedural memories. At least, this is my current hypothesis.
My current project is finding enough input that can be organized to exhibit certain rules to cause a sort of ‘flood’ of comprehensible input.

I think the above mnemonic technique for verbs can be streamlined and made a little more accessible to those interested.
If you are interested, or any one else is interested, in trying some techniques I’ve been working on for the app, let me know and I can hopefully help you learn whatever language you are interested in. I’m going to do a beta web version for spanish soon, so I’ll post that when it comes about.

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If I understand correctly, you are want to teach grammar rules or verb conjugations explicitly, so when people encounter them they do not get frustrated and distracted because they would understand them and then later they would go on to pick up the rules or conjugations implicitly. I think this would be a very helpful approach to people who do tend to get frustrated and distracted when they don’t understand rules or conjugations.

Thanks for the link about Kató Lomb, it was pretty interesting.

What are your thoughts about applying mnemonic techniques to learning foreign language vocabulary?